An important new primary source for Holocaust studies, this unusual memoir contains the recollections of a Holocaust survivor who lived in a small Polish town 55 miles from Warsaw. From his earliest memories of a closely knit community where Jews and Christians lived harmoniously side by side through the horrors of a town torn apart by hatred, Shraga Bielawski details the systematic destruction of Wegrow by the Nazis. How does a town go completely mad? How do neighbors who have attended school together become murderers and victims on opposite sides? What is the process by which an invading army sends innocent civilians to their deaths--leaving only traces of a former civilized culture? Bielawski explores these and similar questions as he chronicles the experiences of his friends and neighbors under the Nazis and shows how he used all the tools of creativity at his disposal in order to survive.
Throughout, Bielawski and co-author Louis Liebovich offer historical background and political discussion to place the events of the book in perspective. The reader learns first-hand about life in occupied Poland, the virtual extinction of Jewish culture in that country, and the ways in which the Nazis preyed upon latent anti-Semitism to accomplish their goals. The book also offers some penetrating observations on the nature of bigotry, concluding that it is a disease that must be addressed by both the dominant culture and the minority culture if another Holocaust is to be avoided. Far more than a simple memoir, The Last Jew of Wegrow is a sweeping saga of imagination and perseverance--an enriching educational experience for high school and college students as well as general readers who seek insights into the Holocaust and its roots.